


If one could know the full story...

by VirgoDragon



Series: When you Find Yourself in a Different Place [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, I have literally no idea what else to tag with, No romance at all, Swearing, Trust me guys this'll get good just bear with me as I figure out what the fuck I'm doing, WHO'S READY FOR A FUCKING MYSTERY BITCHES, Will add more as they appear - Freeform, Will add more tags as I go along, also this is gonna be part of a longer series, be merciful please, cause i dont care i just wanna fuckin write and have fun, first fic, pls forgive any ooc-ness its been like a year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-02-24 10:14:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13211637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirgoDragon/pseuds/VirgoDragon
Summary: What happens when you get sucked into a game you love? What happens when you accidentally start possessing your favorite character? What happens when you find one of your best friends along with you? Well, now you have to figure out what the fuck you gotta do in order to get home.Oh, and then there's the Player...





	1. In the beginning...

I woke up to an alarm blaring from a phone somewhere in the room. I groaned but immediately paused as I recognized that that wasn't my voice.   
  
"... What?" I asked no one. It was definitely a male voice. The tone and all sounded familiar, but I  _ knew _ this voice… I just couldn’t place it.   
  
"... The fuck? What the fuck this isn’t my room!"   
  
There was a bookshelf on one wall, a Jolly Roger flag on the same wall, a computer in the corner, and two doors, each on opposite walls. Across from me was... An admittedly blank wall. 

  
Slowly, I got out of the bed, absently hitting some button on the alarm clock, and looked around. The room was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Something else was niggling at me, too, though I couldn’t place  _ that _ either. I turned and the bead was race car-shaped. That niggling became a little more insistent as I started to recognize the room, and I barely got the courage to look down at my red-orange gloved hands and skeleton arms. I instantly felt both cold and like I could vomit.   
  
I could now tell that I had been speaking in a "Papyrus" accent, voice and all. I was officially panicking, though it was that calm sort of panic where you’re just extremely anxiously calm. 

 

‘Why am I in a video game? Why am I  _ Papyrus _ ?! I thought this was just a video game how’d I get here! What the fuck is going on!’

 

The alarm had turned back on, so, in a daze as I tried to figure out what the fuck was going on, I sought out the alarm clock on the table filled with action figures and turned it off, seeing that it was currently 5:00 am.   
  
I snorted, saying, "Geez, Papyrus, how do you do it? Guess you’re just a morning person.”   
  
Sitting down on Papyrus' race car bed, I looked through his phone. It was one of those old flip phones, fitting for the Underground, and Papyrus had calendar notes for  _ everything _ , thank God.   
  
Some of Papyrus’ notable daily notes included, "WAKE SANS UP! 15 MINUTES BEFORE SENTRY DUTY!" and "10 MINUTES BEFORE TRAINING WITH UNDYNE!"   
  
I chuckled to myself, extremely glad that Papyrus just laid out his daily schedule for me. He had to have had, like, 25 different things on here, at least. I decided that, as long as I knew what to do, I could try to fake being Papyrus long enough to find out what was going on. I hoped it wouldn’t take long, and that I could actually find out what’s going on.

  
A thought struck me. I'd have to be dealing with Sans, and  _ very _ soon, too. He'd  _ definitely _ know if something was off with Papyrus, and I didn't know how I'd be able to explain myself. Like, you can't just say, "HELLO SANS I AM FROM AN ALTERNATE DIMENSION! I DON'T KNOW HOW I GOT HERE OR WHY I AM APPARENTLY POSSESSING YOUR BROTHER AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT! PLEASE DON’T TRY TO MURDER ME!"   
  


I dreaded the thought of having to keep up the Papyrus act, analyzing everything I was going to say and analyzing body posture, just in case, because I tried to be thorough like that. Hopefully this would all solve quickly, or else I was in for a bad time.   
  
"Well, I do love roleplaying, at least," I huffed. I got up from Papyrus' bed again to go actually make breakfast, since I didn’t want to break the routine. Can’t have any tells.   
  
Downstairs in the kitchen, I noticed that the skelebros' sink was at a reasonable height, unlike in the game. I inferred that this was pre-game, especially considering this was their house in Snowdin. Couldn’t be post-game.

 

The skelebros had a myriad of pastas like Fettuccini and Ravioli. Eventually, I found some oatmeal, too. I took out the oatmeal cylinder and saw that it had the little dinosaur eggs and smiled. In the fridge I found milk before briefly wondering why monsters drank milk (and before remembering it makes strong bones!), and in another cabinet I found pots and pans (of course), so I went about making two servings of oatmeal. I was actually surprisingly calm after the initial shock, though it helped that I absolutely refused to think about it.   
  
While I waited for it to cook, I went about the cabinets and fridge again and found more food items. On the wall by the door was a spice rack, including Cinnamon, Parsley, Onion Powder (which reminded me of Onionsan), Garlic Powder, and a few more that didn’t have labels.   
  
I cut off the stove and went to wake up Sans once the notification popped up. Rapping on the door, I realized I wasn't certain on how to speak in all caps, but gave it my best shot and yelled and enunciated. 

 

"SANS, TIME TO WAKE UP! YOU HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO EAT AND GET READY!"   
  
A moment later, Sans responded with a soft  _ whump _ that probably signaled that he fell off his bed and/or tripped over something. I tried not to chuckle as I remembered the self-sustaining trashnado and balled up sheets from the game.   
  
I went ahead back down to eat a bowl of oatmeal, taking half of what was in the pot. It was a few minutes before Sans emerged, already dressed for the day.   
  
'He probably slept in the shorts and tee,' I thought. 'Hell, Papyrus sleeps in his clothes, so it's not unlikely.'   
  
"GOOD MORNING, L- BROTHER," I fumbled. I was about to call him "lazybones" because of rabid fanfiction reading, but remembered that Papyrus rarely called Sans Lazybones in-game.   
  
"huh? oh, mornin', paps," he replied. It seemed I broke him from some thoughts.   
  
"YOU'D BETTER EAT BEFORE THE OATMEAL GETS COLD," I said. Thinking quickly, I added, "IT WOULD BE A SHAME FOR COOKING BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO GO COLD BEFORE IT IS PROPERLY ENJOYED!"   
  
I saw a grin (well, a wider one) grow on Sans' face and knew what I'd just gotten myself into.   
  
"chill, bro," he said, at which I narrowed my (Papyrus'?) eyes. "you  _ snow _ it's not gonna be a problem."   
  
"SANS, IT IS TOO EARLY FOR THIS!" I groaned. That one wasn’t even that good.

  
Sans just grinned more. It was nice to actually see a Genuinely Happy Sans. Then I realized I might’ve read too many angsty fanfics...   
  
"i guess i'm just not very humerus this early."   
  
  
I groaned. Loudly.   
  
~~~~~   
  
After breakfast, I went about my day as I assumed Papyrus would. I walked with Sans to his station, then generally patrolled the area between there and Snowdin, at least the roads I recognized from the game. Avoided the fishing pole and snowman. I then checked on, and even practiced the puzzles and chatted with the Dog guards when I passed them. Later, I got into Undyne's cooking lessons, and even had to remind myself not to get too much into it. Didn’t want to burn her house down before the game even started! The only other thing of real note that day was at supper time.   
  
I had gotten home before Sans did and had decided to cook dinner. Spaghetti, of course. I had glanced at the clock and seen it was getting late, so I decided if Sans wasn't home by the time the spaghetti was done, I'd look for him.   
  
‘Or is that not a good idea?’

  
I thought it over as the sauce warmed up. I went ahead and added my own usual salt and garlic to it for some added flavor, since it came in a jar and all. I chuckled as my brain provided, “THE SPAGHETTI NEEDS MORE SPICES! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WON’T SETTLE FOR ANY LESS THAN  _ ALL _ THE SPICES!”

  
I was putting the garlic powder away when I heard the door open. In came Sans, who immediately flopped down on the couch.   
  
"SANS, THERE YOU ARE," I said, "I WAS STARTING TO GET WORRIED."   
  
"oh, sorry 'bout that, paps," he said (did Sans call Papyrus "Paps?"). "guess i lost track of time."   
  
I was prepared for a pun there, mouth open in some sort of comeback, but none came.   
  
"WELL, SINCE YOU'RE SO LATE, I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU GUESS WHAT WE'RE HAVING FOR DINNER TONIGHT."   
  


Sans hopped up from the couch and glanced through the doorway. I saw visible fear flicker across his face as he saw the spaghetti in the pot. I stared for a moment myself, puzzled. I would think Sans would be able to at least hide his spaghetti-related terror for his bro...   
  
"... iiiis it spaghetti?" He drawled.   
  
I was about to respond when I got an idea and checked the box.   
  
"ACTUALLY, BROTHER, IT IS FETTUCCINI! BUT YOU CAME VERY CLOSE!"   
  
Sans snickered. There was a moment's pause in which I expected a pun. Again, nothing came. Strange…

  
I ate one of the noodles to see if they were ready and checked the warmth of the sauce, strained the pasta, and told Sans dinner was ready. We both got out plates and sat on different ends of the couch (these boys had no other tables except the one with Sans' pet rock on it. Ridiculous.).   
  
"hey, bro," Sans said, slightly lifting his plate, "bone-appetite!"   
  
"AAAGH! SANS, DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE PUNS AS I AM TRYING TO EAT?!"   
  
"you know i  _ pasta _ !"   
  
I couldn't figure that one out.   
  
"you know, pasta? have to, have-ta? Pasta?"   
  
"SAANS, THAT ONE WAS PARTICULARLY TERRIBLE," I facepalmed. Like, genuinely facepalmed. That was awful.

  
"heh, guess they can't all be  _ wieners _ ," he held up a hot-dog from somewhere.   
  
" _ SANS, WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THAT?!? _ "

 

~~~

  
Life passed in this manner for a few weeks. I relaxed a bit on analyzing my Papyrus pretty quickly. Truth be told, having to act like Papyrus as well as never acting like myself started wearing on me pretty quickly, though I honestly wondered at times if anyone even noticed the shift in personality.   
  
It was one particular day when I was finally caught. I didn't have the willpower to keep the “Papyrus” up to snuff, and thus hardly talked. And when I did, I didn't try to project my voice. I hid in my own little corner of the Snowdin area all day, which I doubted Sans would notice anyway, and I wasn't as into Undyne's cooking lessons, though I did perk up a little bit. My thoughts did, however, try to provide advice. Funny how your brain can run away from you like that.   
  
Undyne did notice that I was off, and asked me what was wrong. I really wanted to tell someone what was going on by that point, but sighed and refrained, bluffing with, "Just not feeling like myself today. I'll be over it by tomorrow."

 

Undyne looked like she wanted to try to help anyway, but also looked like she knew her version of help would be punching my problems in the face, which actually wouldn’t help at all. 

 

She dropped it with a sort of mumble of “I’m here for you” type stuff but it was hard to tell exactly what she said.

 

~~~~~

  
After supper, I went straight to Papyrus' room, sat on his bed, buried his face in his hands and sighed. I decided I wasn't going to ask Sans for a bedtime story tonight. I wanted to be on my own and I wanted to safely be  _ myself _ for once.

  
' _ I don't know how- _ ' I noticed I was thinking in Papyrus' voice and took a minute to be sure to switch into my own voice.   
  
' _ I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, _ ' I mentally whined. ' _ I'll probably be fine in the morning, but what about after? What about when I hit the next low for the same reason? _ _  
_   
' _ What's even going on? Why'd this happen in the first place? Like, this sounds like some sort of fanfiction, so why hasn't the plot fucking moved forward? The plot needs to thicken, damn it! I need something to show me I'm making progress! _ '

  
Something in my mind was trying to comfort me, still using Papyrus' voice.   
  
' _ YOU'VE BEEN DOING FINE. I'M SURE THINGS WILL START TO CLEAR SOON. JUST DON'T GIVE UP _ ,' it said. I huffed in amusement.   
  
' _ Yeah, just "Stay Determined." _ ' I mocked.  _ ‘It’s only that I’ve been sitting on my ass for like a month waiting for something to happen.” _

  
I stared down at Papyrus' hands, at the red gloves he was always wearing.  I hadn't taken them off since I first woke up, though I made sure that everything stayed clean. 

 

Suddenly angry at the gloves for my predicament, I stood up, turned, and threw them off at the wall above the Action Figure Table. They  _ plaff _ ed against the wall and fell to the table, knocking some of the action figured over.

 

After a moment where I simmered a bit, I picked one of action figures up and looked at it. then knocked over its brethren. I ripped off Papyrus’ cape, balled it up, and threw it at the computer where it fell into the chair in front of it. I viciously kicked off the boots towards the blank wall and then kicked them closer to the door because, even in a frustrated rage, I was still a semi-tidy person.

 

Moment of rage now passed, I stepped over to make sure I hadn't somehow damaged the wall or the action figures or something. The last thing I really wanted was to break one of Papyrus’ things while I was stuck in his life. My inner monologue tried to comfort me again, but I ignored it. I didn't need my own second train of thought bullshit right now.   
  
I decided that finishing changing clothes would probably help me feel a bit better. I’d feel less likeI had to fill a role and more like I could just rest. As I walked over to Papyrus' closet to get changed, trying to preserve Papyrus' dignity while doing so, I breathed through the silence and focused on the smells and sounds of the house around me in order to calm down.   
  
I cleared a space for Papyrus' "Battle Body" on his table and neatly laid the pieces there, then  _ fwump _ ed onto Papyrus' bed. I took a shuddering breath once I’d stopped bouncing.

  
' _ No. I am not gonna cry. The Great Papyrus... The Great Kathie can keep herself from crying. I’m not gonna cry.  _ I’m not gonna cry!’   
  
I nevertheless teared up and took a deep breath to calm myself down. And another.   
  
' _ Okay _ ,' I stopped myself from actually speaking, lest I set myself off again because  _ my voice is not my fucking own and how fucked up is that _ . 

 

' _ Okay, I'm alright. I can do this. Tomorrow, I'll... I'll figure out something. Something has to explain this. I will figure out what's going on _ . _ I don’t care if I’m breaking routine tomorrow, I’m  _ gonna _ do it. FUCKING NO ONE WILL STOP ME, DAMN IT!’ _

  
' _... I miss my life. _ '   
  
I immediately shut myself up. Thoughts like that would only serve to make me cry, and as soon as one got through, they’d all begin to cascade like a flood and I’d definitely end the night crying. Thankfully, I was broken from my thoughts by a knock on the door.   
  
"uh, papyrus, can i come in?"   
  
"Yea, come in," I breathed shakily. God,  _ this _ is gonna go well.

 

Sans came in and I sat up properly at the head of the bed as he sat at the foot.   
  
"papyrus, is everything okay?" Sans looked nervous. He looked at his hands, fidgeted with them. "i noticed you weren't really yourself today. i mean, you didn't even ask for a bedtime story tonight, you barely reacted to any of my puns, and you didn’t spice the spaghetti at _ all. _ ”

  
I put on a smile for Sans, however weak and watery and fake it may be. I briefly had the thought of pulling a Blooky line, “Sorry, just not feeling up to it right now,” but decided against it.   
  
"I'm just feeling a bit worn out is all,” I sighed instead.

  
"... yea, to be honest with ya, i'm feeling bone-tired, too."   
  
I snorted a but at the pun while my Inner Papyrus™ complained.   
  
"Saans,” I tried anyway.   
  
"'eyy you're smiling."   
  
"I know I am."   
  
A moment of silence passed. I rested Papyrus' chin in his hand.   
  
"you aren't even complaining about the puns? wow. i mean, you at least try to groan. what's gotten into you?"   
  
I saw my opportunity. It was Do or Die on the whole Papyrus thing.   
  
"It's nothing. I'll be better by morning."   
  
And, it was Die.   
  
When Sans didn't leave, I peeked at him. He looked like he wanted to say something.   
  
"What's on your mind, Sans?" I asked, straightening up. I'd be damned if I let Sans bottle (more) things up. Nuh uh, not tolerating that bullshit. He sighed.

 

"well... it's just... i haven't been feelin' like myself either lately. and it's really hard to explain... but, like, it’s not in any usual way or anything. but i also think at this point you maaay get what I’m saying? maybe?"   
  
I sighed. "Can you be a bit more specific?"   
  
“well, for one, you always have your voice raised. always. for another, you actually took off your ‘battle body,’ which i haven't seen you do  _ yet _ . and, well, i get the feeling you're trying to overdo it a bit. idunno, that may just be me."   
  
The silence grew again and I was starting to get irritated with myself. I was irritated because I had overdone it, because I didn't know what was going on, because I hadn't been allowed to just be myself in weeks, because I was having trouble keeping my own damned voice straight now!   
  
'Fine. Fuck it. I wanna tell him the truth?! I'm gonna go straight ahead and tell him! Consequences be damned!'   
  
"The truth is, Sans," I nearly spat. I took a second to check my tone, and remembered to make it as sarcastic as possible.   
  
"The truth is, Sans, that I am being possessed by a teenage girl from  _ ~another dimension~ _ that has no idea what the f-heck is going on and doesn't know where to start sorting this god damned mess out!"   
  
I hadn't meant to yell, speed up or almost let the swear slip when I’d started. I simmered down and waited for Sans' response, though I refused to look at him and instead focused my gaze on my lap.

 

As silence once again reigned, I got nervous, but reminded myself he wouldn't dare hurt Papyrus, so I was safe. We sat a few more minutes as, I assumed, Sans formulated his response.   
  
"... well, i believe it."   
  
That took me completely off guard.   
  
"You do?"   
  
Sans smiled and looked at me.   
  
"yea. 've been feelin' that way, too."   
  
I deflated a bit, defeated. I didn't even want to try to figure out the double-meaning there. I just wanted to be left alone.   
  
"y'know, i recently met a new monster. Got big ol’ horns and a tail…”

 

Sans then went on to accurately describe one of my OCs, leaving me flabbergasted. Suddenly, everything clicked. I had brushed it off, but Sans' pun quality was really lacking and he seemed more motivated than what I'd expect from him, even after reasoning through fanfic bullshit. After the first day when he came home late I'd decided to start getting him after everything was done, and not once did I catch him asleep.   
  
'Could it be?' I thought. I was about to take a leap of faith and I was damn hopefulI was right.   
  
"Cass?"   
  
"...Kathie?"   
  
"Oh my God, Cassander, thank God I'm not alone!" Tears welled in my eyes as I was overcome with relief. I tried to wipe them away, but they only smeared.   
  
"Stupid bones..." I chuckled   
  
"hey, better than being a depressed ghost." They joked.   
  
I snorted. "What even? That's an awful one!"   
  
"'ey, you're still laughing."   
  
"Only because I love stupid jokes as much as you."   
  
I noticed Cassander's "tone" hadn't changed from what I assumed to be Sans Speak.   
  
"Hey, how come you still sound like you're speaking in lower case?"   
  
They shrugged. "i dunno. i just am." I smiled.   
  
' _ I'm finally free _ ,' I thought.   
  
I yawned. "I think I'm gonna go to bed. Good night. We can deal with this bullshit in the morning."   
  
"good night." Cass grinned. They got up to leave the room. "see you in the morning."   
  
"See ya. Night."   
  
"night."   
  
And with that, I was finally alone to myself again.   
  
' _ OR ARE YOU _ ,' said the secondary-thought voice that refused to budge from Papyrus' voice.   
  
"Uugh I do not need this right now," I groaned, laying down on Papyrus' bed and staring up at the ceiling.   
  
' _... I wonder what happened to Papyrus,' _ I thought.  _ 'I mean, I ended up in his body in Undertale, for some strange reason I have yet to figure out. And I haven't seemed to find something about him _ .'   
  
' _ Who knows, maybe he ended up in my body, living my life _ ,' I replied to myself, ‘ _ struggling because you don't have your schedule ~oh so carefully~ laid out _ .'   
  
This earned another snort from me. But it somehow wasn't the right answer. I couldn't tell why.   
  
' _ OR MAYBE _ ,' replied a thought-voice, still using Papyrus' voice, ' _ THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS STILL HERE _ .'   
  
That actually sounded bett-  _ holy fuck that's Papyrus speaking! _   
  
I sat bolt upright.   
  
"PAPYRUS, IS THAT YOU?!" I yelled unnecessarily.   
  
' _ YES, IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! FINALLY, YOU REALIZE I'M HERE AND ABLE TO TALK WITH YOU _ !'   
  
A huge wave of guilt crashed over me. He was here. He had been here probably this whole time. He had to sit through my pathetic attempts at his life and my pathetic breakdown. The fuck.

 

I tried to stop myself from immediately sobbing by first holding my breath, then taking slow, deep breaths.   
  
"Oh my god, Papyrus, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen! I don't even know what was going on!" I was irrationally sure that he'd be mad at me for basically taking his whole life away from him, for not acting as he would, etc. etc. I was already just a train-wreck of excuses I was trying to sort out.   
  
‘ _ I AM NOT MAD. YOU HAVE NO MORE CONTROL OVER THIS SITUATION THAN I DO. AND I CAN TELL YOU HAVE BEEN TRYING VERY HARD, AND YOU HAVE NOT DONE A BAD JOB. ALTHOUGH, YOUR SPAGHETTI IS SEVERELY LACKING IN PIZAZZ. _ ’

  
That actually earned a smile and a chuckle. I sniffed, trying again to wipe tears from Papyrus' face. I laid back down again with Papyrus' legs bent a bit, immensely relieved that he didn't hate me.   
  
' _ I'm so sorry, Papyrus _ ,' I thought.   
  
' _ THERE IS NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE... BUT I DO ACCEPT YOUR APOLOGY _ !'   
  
I began making idle conversation with Papyrus, telling him where I was from, more about myself, and what I currently knew about the situation (not that much) as I figured I owed it to him. I debated on whether or not I should tell him he was a part of a video game in my universe, but decided against it. I would probably be able to tell him later.   
  
' _ Wait, when the heck is the Player actually getting here, anyway _ ?' I thought to myself. 

 

Apparently Papyrus could only hear my thoughts if directed at him, and vice versa, though since I couldn't tell he could hear a great deal of my thoughts up to that point, I assumed.   
  
_ 'What kind of run would this be? Please let it be pacifist. Or at least one where Papyrus doesn’t die... _ '   
  
I wondered if Papyrus were to lose all his HP, if I might be able to... keep him together, I guess? Like Undyne the Undying.   
  
' _ Or would I end up making Paps an amalgamate and/or end up creating Sixbones...? _ '   
  
I didn't dwell on that thought too long, not after I thought about myself and Cassander along with the skelebros...   
  
Papyrus was talking, mainly about what he liked to read (actually not just kid’s books, I noticed. He also liked Shakespeare), going off on several tangents from there. I really wanted to give him his body back...   
  
I thought to myself about how I would do that, keeping tabs on Papyrus' part of the conversation and replying when I could. I thought about trying just focusing on appearing as my consciousness next to Papyrus. My mind went to me just appearing above Papyrus and just sliding over with the slide whistle sound, and I snickered, thinking to both myself and Papyrus, because he'd ask why I was laughing, ' _ Just oochie on outside of the body. Okay _ .'   
  
This earned amusement from Papyrus, as I filled him in on context without direct thoughts (you'd be amazed how often that happens when two people are thinking to each other. So much more efficient than language).   
  
' _ WELL, WHY NOT TRY IT? _ ' I briefly noticed that Papyrus was still somehow loud in thought-voice form. Interesting.   
  
I nodded and tried it, trying to imagine and feel myself kinda floating next to Papyrus since I had nothing else to go on. I also tried imagining and letting go of control of Papyrus' body.   
  
_ Something  _ happened and I found myself floating next to Papyrus, in between the bed and the wall. Papyrus seemed to gain control and sat up to look at me.   
  
"NYEH HEH HEH! WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE SOLUTION TO THIS PUZZLE," he bellowed, grinning. I giggled at the puzzle mention.   
  
I looked at myself as a, I guess it'd be a sort of soul husk form, because I definitely wasn't a floating Soul and I definitely wasn't a ghost or anything like that. I had basic outlines of my body as well as some detail outlines (like jeans pockets and d20 on my shirt and laces on my sneakers) and a Soul, except green instead of red. I reached to look at my hair, but couldn’t find it. Going over to Papyrus’ unpowered computer, I first startled myself with radiantly green eyes like fuckin Danny Phantom or some shit, then saw that my hair was both short like I’d been wanting it and green.   
  
"Heh, I knew I was a Kindness Soul."   
  
"WE NEED TO TELL SANS AND CASSANDER ABOUT THIS," Papyrus shouted. He immediately bolted up and headed towards Sans' room, flinging the door open without waiting for a response. The only thing I could really do was sprint after him, elated that I was at least in some form in my own body again.   
  
"Yo, wait up!" I called after him.   
  
He was already pounding on Sans' door, a huge grin on his face, saying, "CASSANDER, GET UP! KATHIE AND I HAVE EXCELLENT NEWS!"   
  
After a moment of Papyrus' continued pounding on that poor door, Cassander opened the door, rubbing at an eye-socket-lid-thing.   
  
"papyrus, what's- wait, papyrus?" They then saw me next to Papyrus. "Kathie?! What happened? How'd you do that?"   
  
"Lemme think how to explain it..." I said. After a pause, I continued, "I think, just like imagine yourself next to Sans? Like, feel yourself next to him, I guess? Just try it, it may take a minute."   
  
Cassander nodded and closed their eyes. We patiently waited until we saw Cassander materialize next to Sans. They were slightly shorter than me, though significantly taller than Sans, also with short, fluffy hair. They were wearing, outlined in the dark blue of Integrity, a school hoodie, jeans, and converses. Their eyes didn't seem to have as much fucking glow as mine did, but mine are bright-ass green.    
  
Sans, now back in control of his body, shot open his eyes and took a second to look around as if he was in a different room. He widened his eyes a bit at Cassander still next to him, though having taken a step back, then grinned and said, "so long, you will be mist."   
  
Cassander and I snort-laughed while Papyrus groaned.   
  
"How could you betray me like this, Kathie?" Papyrus said to me, no longer shouting.   
  
"Sorry, Paps," I said, "Puns are just so humerus!"   
  
Sans grinned and Cassander continued laughing.   
  
"So... How about we all go to bed and talk about what's going on in the morning, deal?"   
  
"eh, works for me. i'm—"   
  
"DON’T YOU  _ DARE _ FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"   
  
"— _ bone _ -tired at the moment."   
  
"SANS, IT IS TOO LATE FOR THIS!"   
  
Cass and I simultaneously “Eyyy”ed.   
  
"I'm getting out of here before I have to hear any more horrendous puns," Papyrus barked.   
  
As the skelebros both ducked into their rooms, Cassander stepped out of Sans' before he closed the door.   
  
"So what now?" They asked.   
  
"Well, I'm not tired."   
  
"Me neither."   
  
"Wanna go downstairs and try to figure out what's going on until we fall asleep?"   
  
"Sure."


	2. Getting things Started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skelebros learn about Cass and Kathie's true origins, and they decide where to go from there.

Cass and I went downstairs and sat on the sofa.  
  
"So... You have any idea what's going on?" I asked.   
  
"Well, I mean, besides from the obvious, no." They replied   
  
"Me neither…   
  
" _Welp_!” I clapped. “Time to break out the multiverse theory, I guess.

“So, something's cause us to switch universes and somehow link to Sans and Paps," I started.  
  
"What?" Cassander asked, about as confused as you'd expect.   
  
"Bruh, even in Undertale you're wearing that dang hoodie!"   
  
Cassander looked down at their own clothes and chuckled themself. As well as being Integrity blue with short hair and a matching set of glowing eyes, Cass was wearing their favored Bolts hockey hoodie with jeans and converses.    
  
"As per usual, my friend. Comfortable and functional, why would I ever take it off?"   
  
I snickered more.   
  
"Nerd," I joked. "I mean, you didn't even _choose_ to wear it, it just happened.

“Hey, it's a thing you and Sans have in common. You both are constantly wearing hoodies and you're both the smolls." I grinned.  
  
"Heey," Cassander pouted, which made me laugh.   
  
"Aw, c'mon! You know I’m just joking! Mostly, anyway.

"Anyway, as I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted by your hoodie,” more grinning, “I'd guess that something linked our universes and, or caused us to come here? I dunno."   
  
"Multiverse theory is my jam, bro. Let's call that event the catalyst. Or is bridge better?” They rambled. “Yeah, catalyst is for timeline separation. Bridge. Which we were then forcibly shoved over."

Cassander tapped a finger to their chin as they paced and monologued, deep in thought. "Bridge. But unfortunately it's gonna be hard to see what it was from our perspective. Hindsight's 20-20, they say, and we don't got it."  
  
I watched Cassander pace from the comfort of the couch, smiling at their nerd antics and entirely comfortable in the fact that I’d probably do this myself at some point.

The couch was very cushy and smelled like fast food, Sans’ doing I’d guess. It also jangled when I first sat down on it. Eventually I remembered you can find some loose change in the couch.  
  
"Yea, 'Bridge' is definitely the right term,” I stated, coming back into the conversation. “But why us? Wait, there's no way we could know... Okay, so we have no idea what's going on... Let's lay out the basics, then decide on a course of action?

“So we were brought into an Undertale universe and linked with Sans and Papyrus somehow for some reason. We don't know how or why we're here, and we can apparently possess the skelebros, which I’d rather _not_ do if I can help it, by the way… I think we could watch out for signs signaling the start of a run and badger the player for more information, right? Well, after convincing them that this isn't your normal run..."   
  
"Signs of a run, good idea,“ They agreed. “I guess that'll be my job; Sans and I will be right at the exit to the ruins. We'll have to leave the Bridge be for now; there's no possible way to find it from our perspective. I'll get on that tomorrow with Sans."   
  
"Yea, good idea."   
  
I had a thought about if it was a Genocide run, and what would happen to me if Papyrus were to die. I put it out of my mind for the moment, I could tackle that another day when I was feeling mentally/emotionally up to it. I just hoped that was before I _absolutely_ needed to think about it.

  
"Might be a good idea to fill the guys in on what's going on, at least partially. Should we do it together or separately?”

  
"Together, of course. Pool our knowledge, and all that." Cassander made a grand sweeping gesture toward the front door.   
  
I chuckled. "Yeah, okay. I think a good signal that the game's about to start, also, or at least get here would be when Toriel asks Sans to make the promise. It makes the most sense for her to ask that while the Player’s sleeping in Toriel's home, yeah?’

They nodded.

“Okay, so tomorrow, then?” I asked.

  
"Sounds good."   
  
"Nice job being Sans, by the way. Fooled me for long enough."   
  
"Thanks, you too. You make a great Papyrus."   
  
“I think you mean _the_ Great Papyrus, my dear friend!" I said in my own, home-grown Papyrus accent, which, while a little too high pitched, I thought was spot on.

  
We laughed and moved on to compare notes on how our weeks were and then just talked about nothing of consequence. The phrase, "This is some fanfiction level crap," went around several times. It was three am before either of us noticed we weren’t getting tired at all.   
  
By the time Papyrus woke up, Cassander and I had actually starting having trouble finding things to talk about, due to neither of us having tired and random thoughts to start up new conversations. We ended up figuring out that since we weren't corporeal, we couldn't grab any of the board games under the Rock Table. Cassander was trying to move one with the force when Papyrus came down.   
  
"Mornin' Papyrus," I said, partially in warning to Cassander, who straightened up immediately from trying the force.   
  
"GOOD MORNING, HUMANS! I SEE YOU TWO ARE BOTH UP BRIGHT AND EARLY!"   
  
I smiled at Papyrus' never-ending energy, even right after he's just woken up. It was actually a pretty nice thing to see.   
  
"Actually, we never went to bed," Cassander supplied. I nodded in confirmation.   
  
"OH, WELL, ALL THE BETTER FOR THINKING UP GREAT PUZZLES!"   
  
I nodded, then noticed that Paps called us, "HUMANS."   
  
"You know we're humans, Papyrus?"   
  
"WELL, I HAD GATHERED, YES…” He paused on his way to the kitchen. “WOULD I BE CORRECT?"   
  
"Yea, actually." I replied, a little surprised at his deduction. Then I reminded myself i shouldn’t be, because he actually was really clever in-game.   
  
Papyrus continued to the kitchen to make breakfast, getting out eggs from the fridge. It looked like he was going to make scrambled eggs, and remembering his rumored cooking skills, I decided to go and watch, leaving Cassander by the table.   
  
"Watcha doing?" They asked.   
  
"Just watching," I said as I followed Papyrus around the kitchen. I hoped Cassander would catch my drift.   
  
I didn't interfere with Papyrus, who didn't seem to mind my watching, when he added most, if not all of the spices on the spice rack as well as a ton of salt. I only stepped in when he was about to let the eggs burn.   
  
"Papyrus, don't let the eggs burn."   
  
"OH, YES! I SUPPOSE IT IS ABOUT TIME TO TAKE THEM OFF THE HEAT," He replied. He turned off the stove eye and moved the pan to a cool one. I was satisfied that I saved Sans some form of food-related torture.   
  
Papyrus then went up and woke Sans up, and he came down after several minutes of badgering. Papyrus separated the scrambled eggs onto plates.   
  
When Sans noticed Cassander and I weren't getting anything he asked, "you two not hungry?"   
  
Papyrus just now seemed to remember that Cassander and I might need to eat.   
  
"OH, PARDON ME, HUMANS! I DID NOT THINK TO THINK IF YOU TWO NEEDED ANY FOOD!"   
  
"It's fine, Paps," I said. "We're not hungry. Or, at least I'm not." I looked at Cassander in question.

  
"Nope! Not hungry. Must have somethin' to do with not having bodies."   
  
I chuckled, amused at the last part. Papyrus seemed relieved.   
  
"hey, bro, the eggs are really good this time. nice," Sans commented. He'd tried the eggs, though not before drowning all of it in ketchup.   
  
"KATHIE HELPED ME WITH THAT BIT," Papyrus admitted, starting on his own plate of eggs.   
  
While Papyrus wasn't looking, Sans gave me a wink and a thumbs up. I took that to mean that I'd be slowly helping Papyrus to be a better cook.   
  
' _That’s going to be tricky, considering Undyne..._ ' I thought. The only thing she’d help Papyrus cook is disaster.   
  
"so what'd you two get up to while me and pap were sleeping?"   
  
"Nothing much, really," I said. “Just talking about the situation.”   
  
Cassander and I filled the skelebros in on what exactly we didn't really talk about while they ate, and then moved onto new topics as everyone was walking out the door. Outside, we all walked towards the sentry stations. Sans and Papyrus started to talk among themselves as Cass and I ran out of things to say, as well as saying their usual good mornings to the other townsfolk.   
  
I noticed that the snow didn't crunch under my or Cassander's steps, and neither of us had trouble walking on the patches of ice we passed. It would appear that we were effectively incorporeal, and thus immune to most terrain conditions. Once I noticed this, however, I did begin to slip on the ice a little, as if I were actually walking on it. I took a mental note to investigate this later.

 

~~~

  
Once we left Sans and Cassander at Sans' sentry station, Papyrus and I began his patrol route. We were quiet for a few minutes, but it wasn't terribly uncomfortable. Papyrus looked like he was chewing on a question and I was just looking around the forest, waiting for him to ask something. Eventually, my patience rewarded me.   
  
"KATHIE, I HAVE A QUESTION," he said. Even though it was just the two of us, he still spoke up as if I was across the way.   
  
"Go for it, I'll probably have an answer."   
  
"YOU KNOW A LOT ABOUT SANS AND ME. HOW IS THAT, WHEN YOU AREN'T FROM THE UNDERGROUND? "   
  
"Uhm..."

I thought about how to explain this. At least with Sans, Cassander'd be able to build off the Timelines notion. Since Papyrus didn’t have any Timeline knowledge to my own knowledge, I’d be going off of nothing.

"Well, it's kind of tricky to explain... Have you heard of parallel dimensions, or alternate universes?"  
  
"I THINK I MIGHT HAVE WHEN I TRIED ONE OF SANS' BOOKS ONCE. I HONESTLY DON’T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT HOW IT WORKS, THOUGH."   
  
"Oh! Well, um, it’s like... Uhm...

“I guess the simplest way to explain it is any variation of like people, or TV characters, or anything could or does exist, just not in this... plane of existence? I guess? But they’re all real, apparently… Cassander and I are from another universe, one in which you and Sans and Undyne and everyone else here are characters in a video game."

I honestly did not know how Paps would react to the suggestion that he's a video game character. I avoided looking at his reaction and instead looked at the snow on the ground.

  
"WELL, THAT _WOULD_ EXPLAIN HOW YOU KNOW SO MUCH. ALSO WHY YOU ONLY STUCK TO THE MAIN ROADS OF SNOWDIN, IF THE GAME DIDN'T HAVE MANY SMALL TRAILS," he replied after a moment. I was caught off guard that that was his reaction, just calm acceptance and quick analysis.

  
' _Well, I'd probably start asking rapid-fire questions,_ ' I thought.   
  
"WHAT'S THE GAME LIKE? " Papyrus asked.   
  
‘ _Here we go._ ’

"Well," I thought about how to summarize the game, then remembered about explaining this to both of them that night. "You may have to hold out on that question for now. Cass and I are going to explain everything tonight once we're grouped back up so we don’t miss anything, and I'm not sure what all I should explain now."  
  
"OH. WELL I SUPPOSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SIMPLY HAVE TO WAIT."   
  
I giggled a bit at the "Great Papyrus" bit.   
  
"SO YOU AND CASSANDER HAVE PLAYED THE GAME THAT SANS AND I ARE IN?"   
  
"Yeah, we both have. It's been a while since either of us have played it, though, and I played more of it... But I still remember a lot about it."   
  
I glanced at Papyrus to see him smiling like he had an amusing thought.   
  
"DO I HAVE MY VERY OWN THEME SONG?"   
  
I snorted at the question. It was perfectly reasonable, especially coming from Papyrus, but it still caught me off guard in a nice, fun way.   
  
"Yea, actually. You do. 'Most all of the main characters do, Sans included."   
  
"I DON'T SEE HOW SOMEONE AS LAZY AS HIM WOULD FIND HIS OWN THEME SONG TO USE. MORE LIKELY HE USES A REHASHED VERSION OF MINE," Papyrus joked and I laughed some more. I got the feeling that he was purposely acting... Flamboyant?

‘ _Is flamboyant the right word?_ '   
  
My mind flitted to the Genocide Sans Fight and Megalovania briefly, but I replied, "Nah. He has his own theme, though not nearly as energetic as yours. Speaking of, I wouldn't be able to do it justice, but would you like to hear it?"   
  
"WOULD I?! WHY YES, I WOULD! NYEH HEH HEH!"   
  
I kept grinning for a moment before forcing my face to relax enough to be able to actually sing Bonetrousle. Of course, a single voice wouldn't be able to do both the melody and the bass, and I didn't think Cassander and I could duet easily even if they were here, so I had to settle for what I could do.   
  
"THAT IS TRULY WORTHY OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS," Papyrus exclaimed once I stopped.   
  
"Thanks. Couldn't really do it justice, though,” I repeated. “I'll have to find a way to show you the theme in its proper glory."

‘ _Maybe if I can get at that piano in Waterfall…_ ’ I thought.

  
Papyrus wanted to hear Sans' theme, too, to which I happily obliged. I sang the regular one, though. Not Megalovania.   
  
"So..." I trailed after I was done with it. I wanted to continue a conversation, but didn't know what to say.   
  
"You know, I hadn't seen snow in a _while_ until this happened," I settled.   
  
"REALLY? HOW COME?"   
  
"Well, where I lived was too far south for snow. The Surface is a lot bigger than the Underground, and it's not as simple as a day's walk to see the snow for me."   
  
"WELL, I HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THE SNOW HERE IN SNOWDIN," Papyrus said.   
  
I took a good, long look at it. I hadn’t really given myself the chance to look at it before, and it made me happy, seeing it again since I moved from up north. It was really fluffy and had a nice way of sparkling that I slightly doubted as natural.   
  
"Yea, this is nice snow."   
  
We continued on Papyrus’ routes for the rest of the day. It occurred to me to bring up the fact that the Player wasn’t gonna go this way, but I enjoyed the scenery. Also, I thought that maybe a part of Sentry Duty was to help lost Monsters and keep those Pesky Kids out of dangerous areas, and not just look for Humans.

 

~~~

 

Later that night, as Sans and Papyrus were having dinner, I brought up the multiverse thing again.

“So,” I said, “Uh… How do I start this…

“So! Uh, Cassander and I were talking, and, like, We’re gonna fill you guys in on some stuff. So, like, you guys both know multiverse theory?”

I waited for both of them to nod.

“So, apparently it’s true. So, in Cassander and my universe you guys are characters in a rather popular game called Undertale. Both of us have played this game, which is how we know so much about the Underground.

“Now, we don’t really know why we’re here, actually _in_ this universe, or why we’ve been linked with you guys, but, uh, I think we’ll be able to figure it out. Uhm… questions?”

I grinned when Papyrus actually raised his hand. “Yes, Papyrus?”

“WHAT HAPPENS IN THE GAME?”

‘ _Oh boy,_ ’ I thought, ‘ _here comes the fun._ ’

I glanced at Cassander to see if they’d take this. When they didn’t, I continued, “Well… uh, you, as the Player, fall into the Underground through a hole in a mountain that leads to the Ruins. You travel through the Ruins to Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, through the Core, and eventually to New Home to pass through the Barrier and get out.”

It was at this time that I remembered that Papyrus didn’t fully know what it took to pass through the Barrier.

“You encounter and fight a lot of monsters on the way, including the woman behind the door, you Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, and Asgore.” I briefly thought I was forgetting someone before I remembered it was Sans on the Genocide Run.

“how does the game end,” Sans asked. He sounded casual, but I wasn’t sure. “what happens if you, y’know, kill someone?”

“Oh boy…” I dropped my gaze to the table, tapping a shapeless tune that eventually turned into Megalovania. I distantly registered that I made no sound.

“Well…” I didn’t want to say it.

“Well… so there’s three major routes of the game: Neutral, where it’s either your first run or you killed someone, True Pacifist, where you haven’t killed anyone, and, uh, Genocide, where you go up and out of your way to kill _everyone_.”

Guilt rolled like rocks in my stomach as I remembered my multiple attempted Genocide Runs. None of them were completed, but I hoped all the same that Sans didn’t see my guilt.

The tension in the room had skyrocketed for me. I glanced back up to see Sans about to say something, but Papyrus jumped in first.

“WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING? GOING AROUND AND _KILLING_ PEOPLE!” Papyrus, bless his heart, was genuinely confused, worried, and disgusted.

With a heavy sigh, I answered, “The Player doesn’t see real consequences to it, Paps. To them, the Genocide Run’s a different way to play the game. It’s a different experience with different interactions and battles and different personalities from the characters shown, but everyone’s just lines of dialogue, points of data, variables programmed to respond to different sets of numbers. No one would _actually_ do it in real life, but they know they can get away with it in a video game. It doesn’t have actual consequences.”

“DOES _EVERYONE_ DIE?” Papyrus asked.

I sighed heavily again and took a moment to think about my answer.

“Everyone. I’m sorry.

“But!” I interrupted myself, a sudden memory appearing with hope.

“But, a lot of people stop when they fight you, Papyrus.” I didn’t exactly know how to say this with Paps sitting _right there_ , but I blundered on anyway. “Even after everything they’d done, you’d still believed in them. The Player couldn’t stand the thought of killing you, so they either Reset or abandon the Genocide Run.”

I left out just how many people stopped and _just_  how many people still did a violence. The tension was already thick enough to cut as the spaghetti sat, forgettable.

Eventually, the table conversation settled out into something less… existential. Then, when it was time, Sans and Papyrus went to their respective rooms to sleep for the night, leaving Cass and I to entertain ourselves in the main room. Late into the night, Cass discovered that they could go to sleep if they tried, though it was a bit harder for me since I usually never slept easily without background music unless I was really tired.

In the meantime, I experimented. First, I tried to test shoe traction in the few spaces there were, even getting up onto the table to see. _That_ test only ended with me tripping over my own foot and face-planting the floor. I did, however, learn from that that I couldn’t make any impact sounds if I tried. Not by falling, kicking, tapping, or hitting anything around me. I could, though, snap and click and hum and do basically any sound that only involved me using my body.

Eventually, by the time Papyrus came down to make breakfast, I’d managed to fall asleep myself and was woken up by cabinets being nearly slammed open by Papyrus’ general noisiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS sorry this is late (By a day, but still), but I Got Sick and didn't feel like doing much. BUT IT'S DONE NOW and I'm posting it so have a good read!
> 
> Slightly shorter than the last one, but eeehh it made for a good stopping point so oh well.
> 
> Don't forget to like and comment! :DD


	3. A Bit of a Scare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Challenger Approaches! Does this mean DOOM??!!?!??!?!??!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY I'M FUCKING BACK BITCHES
> 
> ITS SUMMER AND I HAVE YET TO GET A JOB
> 
> THAT MEANS MORE LATE-NIGHT FANFIC POSTING FOR YOU GUYS
> 
> DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING CONSISTENT EVER I'M WARNING YOU NOW
> 
> THANKS

It was only three days until Sans had to make his promise to Toriel. In that time, we generally continued on the Skelebros’ daily routine. Cassander started chipping in with Sans and Toriel’s knock-knock-jokes when inspiration struck, and I started goofing around more during Papyrus’ cooking lessons and exploring the woods around his routes as much as I could. Overall, it was a generally peaceful time. That is, until the Player came through.

 

Sans and Cassander heard Toriel fighting the Player on the other side of the Ruins door and booked it at Cass’ urging. They came straight to me and Papyrus, who were coincidentally on the main road at the time, and informed us that the Player was coming.

 

“Could you tell what run they were on?” I asked.

 

Cassander shook their head, saying, “It’s genocide. They took out Toriel with one hit, I heard it right as we left.”

 

My stomach sank as I realized what that meant.

 

“Oh no. No no no nono.”

 

I turned and paced, running my hands through my hair, and tried not to panic. A Genocide run was _not_ good for us, for me and Papyrus specifically.

 

‘What happens if he dies? Where do I go?”

 

“Okay. Okay. That’s okay,” I thought aloud. “That’s not a death sentence.”

 

That was absolutely a death sentence.

 

I turned to see Papyrus’ reaction, realizing how I must’ve sounded. He looked scared, but then again, so did Cassander and Sans. I swallowed and forced myself to calm down a bit and think. I was the leader here. Time to act like one.

 

“We know what they’re going to do...” I said a bit more calmly. I glanced around the group. “We’ve already messed up the small events of the game by now, right? I mean, the Player must’ve come through the door by now, right? They’ve missed the small interactions with Sans and Papyrus. If we continue to mess it up, maybe we can stop them. Make them see it’s not your typical run?”

 

A silence fell as we tried to think of what to do. I felt as if my heart was beating out of my chest stille, but I started to try to calm down a bit. I wouldn’t do anyone any good if I just flew into a panic.

 

“We can get the Dogs to evacuate the woods,” Cassander suggested. “Or at least get _them_ out of there.”

 

I nodded. We still had advantages, here. We weren’t dead yet.

 

“Papyrus, you could call Undyne,” I suggested as I turned to him. “Tell her just how dangerous the Human is.”

 

Papyrus nodded and pulled out his phone to call her.

 

“i’ll call the dog squad and get them out of there,” Sans offered, pulling out a phone of his own.

 

‘I didn’t even know he _had_  a phone,’ I thought amidst Crisis Mode.

 

“Papyrus,” I began once he finished his call. “Look, I don’t want to terrify you, well, more than you might already be, but be prepared for the Player. They’re going to be really strong at this point. They _will_ get the first move in a Fight and they _will_  take you out in one hit. So, _please_ , don’t try to talk them down. Either fight them or _run,_ I’m _begging_ you _._ ” I tried to impress the importance of running, but I could still see the determination in Papyrus’ expression to talk to them. I opened my mouth to continue begging him when Sans piped up.

 

“bro, i know you think you could talk them down no matter what, but listen to kathie here. at least for now, for me.”

 

I could see the worry in Sans’ eyes. Papyrus’ expression softened and he nodded, saying, “I WON’T GO DOWN EASILY, I PROMISE.”

 

I was about to argue more, tell Papyrus again that he couldn’t reason with the Player, but I happened to glance and see them down the road in the distance.

 

“Uh, we should _probably_  clear out soon,” I mentioned, motioning to where they were steadily walking toward us, gaze vacant and distant. Everyone followed my gaze and we nearly ran in the other direction towards town.

 

By the time we reached Snowdin Town, it was evacuated. The dog guards had rounded everyone up and taken them deeper into the woods around Snowdin, judging by all all the disturbed snow. I followed Papyrus to his position at the end of Snowdin as Cassander and Sans went to tail the Player. They gave us occasional updates to their progress via phone as Papyrus and I waited in the fog for imminent demise. There still ended up being plenty of teens left in the woods for them to murder, and my heart went out to all of them as I anxiously paced.

 

We were getting antsy, a bit impatient on my and, and more than a little scared by the time the Player showed up in the fog.

 

“So this is what it feels like on the other side of the screen,” I breathed. ~~I could feel my sins crawling down my back.~~

 

They stepped forward, gaze still vacant like I’d seen earlier.

 

“PLAYER, STOP,” Papyrus commanded.

 

“What are you doing, Paps?” I felt fear spike through me.

 

They stepped forward. I could see the glove on their hands and the bandana around their brow. This would not end well.

 

“NOW, WHATEVER YOU’VE BEEN TOLD, THIS IS NOT A GAME.”

 

“Papyrus, run,” I sang. My voice was high-pitched from fear.

 

“I AM A VERY REAL SKELETON WITH VERY REAL FEELINGS, AND I FEEL YOU NEED TO STOP,” he continued on, ignoring me.

 

They stepped forward again.

 

I got goosebumps and a shiver down my spine as they took a fighting stance. I could hear Papyrus rattling in fear at the Player, though he was standing as tall as ever. They pulled back a fist as I simultaneously yelled, “Papyrus, brace yourself!”

 

“PAPYRUS,” I screamed, dropping down next to where he was knocked into the snow and mud in an impossible effort to help him up.  I could see that the punch that cracked his collar bone. They’d almost hit his neck.

 

He shakily got up on his own, determined to talk sense into the Player. I was torn between saying, “God damn it, Papyrus,” and, “You know they won’t listen,” but ended up just tensing and preparing for the worst as tears spilled from my eyes.

 

“NOW, I PRETTY MUCH EXPECTED THAT,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “BUT I’M BEING SERIOUS HERE! STOP BEING RUDE!”

 

I saw the punch being pulled back and, by God, I was _going_ to get Papyrus out of this.

 

The Player threw the punch as I threw myself at Papyrus, determined against any sort of logic to save him. _Something_ happened and, for a split second, I felt the damp chill of the air and the looseness of the mud here and actually collided with Papyrus in a decidedly lame tackle to the ground.  The punch hit air as we both went down into the mud and I was hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion from whatever I just did as the damp chill of the air faded. I ignored it and saw the Player’s- no, Chara’s confused expression. It was Chara right now, I decided. I took the distraction and yelled, “ _Run!_ ”

 

Thankfully, blessedly, Papyrus actually listened to me this time. I followed him as he fled the fight, having to sprint to keep up with his longer strides as he bolted through town. Sans and Cassander who, I’d later found out, had seen the entire fight caught up with us deep in a neighborhood of town, one not usually accessed by the Player. I was gasping with my hands on my knees, the combination of what i’d done back there and then sprinting having taken my breath away.

 

“ _papyrus oh my god you almost died what were you thinking?!_ ” Sans fussed and hugged Papyrus as Cassander said to me, “What _was_  that?! That was so _cool_ ! I mean, you almost died, which isn’t that cool, but that was so _cool_!”

 

I held up a hand for them to wait as I gasped metaphorical oxygen back into my metaphorical lungs. At least, I think it was all metaphorical. The burning lungs certainly felt real enough.

 

“KATHIE, WHAT WAS THAT BACK THERE?” Papyrus asked after he had sort of, but not really, calmed himself and Sans down. He was still shaking

 

“I’m not sure…” I said once I’d had my breath mostly back and straightened up. “I think I became corporeal through Determination? I guess? I don’t know?”

 

“determination?” Sans asked. Obviously he hadn’t caught my capital letter.

 

“Okay, bit of game lore, but Determination’s a substance found in Humans and Human Souls. Through it, the Player can do things like Save the game, Load, and Reset. It’s used as a tool to sort of alter the rules of the game, for example, allowing the Player to come back from the dead and resetting the Timeline, among other things... I think I used it to momentarily become corporeal?”

 

“WOWIE! CAN YOU DO IT AGAIN?” Papyrus asked.

 

“I can try, but first we’re going to get you healed up, _mister_ . _Why_  didn’t you run?”

 

“I THOUGHT I COULD EXPLAIN THINGS TO THEM AND THEY WOULD STOP.”

 

“bro, you _promised_ you wouldn’t try that,” Sans interjected. He actually looked a little bit hurt, now that the imminent danger of Papyrus almost dying had passed.

 

“NO, I ONLY SAID I WOULDN’T GO DOWN EASY. AND I DIDN’T!”

 

 _‘Papyrus, you filthy lawyer,_ ’ I thought, a little bit proud and really frustrated.

 

Sans sighed and ran a hand down his face. “alright, let’s just get something to heal you up.”  
  


~~~

 

Once we healed Papyrus via food, we called Undyne and told her the Human had entered Waterfall. There was a lot of concerned yelling on her end as Papyrus told her he fought the Human but ran away. He used as few details as possible so he didn’t have to lie to her about Cassander’s and my existence, or the fact that _he was nearly killed_. Undyne told Papyrus that she’d evacuate Waterfall immediately and ordered him to stay out of this. So, naturally, we all followed the Player into Waterfall.

 

As they were making their way into Temmie Village, we got ahead in front of them and tried to warn those we saw ahead of the Human’s approach as Cassander and I guided the Skelebros on the main pathways we remembered from the game. None of the monsters listened to us. They either didn’t believe that a Human had fallen down or they didn’t believe they’d come this way.

“WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?” Papyrus asked at one point. We were on an outcropping of rock at that point, out of the path of the Player but in an area where we could see both that one long bridge and Undyne’s Crag. The Player hadn’t passed through either of those areas yet.

 

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “We _could_  move onto Hotland… We can’t do much else here, and we’ll need that bit of time to convince Alphys to do something.”

 

“WHY WOULD WE NEED TO CONVINCE ALPHYS TO DO SOMETHING? DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT THE PLAYER FOUGHT METTATON IN HOTLAND?”

 

“Yeah, but it’s sort of like you’re just fighting him in Alphys’ stead. Also, he shows up in a form that’s very vulnerable to physical attacks when his regular, rectangular, form is impervious. So if we can convince her to either not do that or to change him back, we can stop the Genocide Run in its tracks. No way forward.”

 

“and if she won’t?” Sans asked.

 

“Well… then there’s still one place left before Asgore,” I said. Taking a breath, I continued, “Sans, in the Genocide Run, you take on the Player in the golden hall outside the king’s throne room.”

 

“SANS?” Papyrus piped up, “BUT HE DOESN’T FIGHT! HE _NEVER_  TRAINS!”

 

I glanced at Sans to see if he wanted to explain it. He just made a gesture for me to continue and looked like he was trying to figure out an equation with too many variables. I pretended it was because he hadn’t expected himself to fight.

 

“Well… in his fight, Sans only has 1 HP, attack, and defense. By all logic, he should be the easiest enemy in the game, and the, uh, game even says that as flavor text. The only thing is that he dodges all of the Player’s attacks. His Fight goes on for, like, ten minutes, and it’s easily the hardest in the game. So if we have to, you guys can make one last stand, _together_ , there. If we fail there, then…” I didn’t need to say what would happen. The Player would win, go on to kill Asgore, and likely wouldn’t Reset. Genocide Runs are always the last run unless someone felt really guilty, and I didn’t think this Player’d feel that guilty.

 

“how do you know so much about the genocide run,” Sans asked. I was thankfully saved from having to answer by Cassander, who chose that moment to say, “Guys, look! They’re on the bridge!”

 

Truth be told, there was Monster Kid, talking to the Player. We couldn't hear what was being said, but it quickly became obvious to Cassander and me that this wasn’t how it was on the Genocide run.

 

“Guys,” I said, “something’s wrong.”

 

Monster Kid ran off, tripped, and fell to a ledge on the support pillar of the bridge as Undyne stepped onto it.

 

“Guyyys, this the Neutral Run," I yelled, fear growing in my chest.

 

“Wait, what?!” Cassander exclaimed. “ _How?_ ”

 

“I don’t know!”

 

“MAYBE THEY SPARED SOMEONE?”

 

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think–” Then it hit me. “Papyrus, they spared _you_! When you ran away, the game must’ve counted it as a Spare!” My stomach sank as I realized the implications of that.

 

“We’ve got to get to Alphys, _now_ ,” Cassander added.

 

“It’s too late! They’re at Undyne’s Crag, we won’t be able to get around them!”

 

The way back would take us before the precarious bridge, making us go across it _and_ by the Player. The Crag was the only reasonably quick way into Hotland from here. Undyne was already giving her speech, and I could practically hear _NGAHHH!!_

 

The distance between there and the start of Hotland was too far for Sans to shortcut from here since Cassander didn’t automatically tag along with him. We’d have to wait until they passed. The fight started and I felt a horrible sense of dread at the thought of the Player’s level at this point, assuming they still somehow killed all the monsters in Waterfall. My fears were confirmed when they took out Undyne with one hit.

 

“U-UNDYNE?” Papyrus stuttered. We still couldn’t hear her, but Undyne was barely holding herself together, starting to melt. And Papyrus was right here to watch the entire thing. I tried to usher him back from our spot. We needed to leave.

 

“N-NO! SHE CAN’T DIE! SHE– SHE WON’T!” Papyrus was in tears, the rest of us shocked. I was trying to block his view, but there was no way in hell I could due to height differences and the fact that i was pretty sure I was slightly translucent.

 

“I JUST KNOW IT! SHE WON’T!”

 

Undyne was doing a very good impression of a melting candle at this point, its flame too bright, too hot for it to last. Papyrus fell to his knees, hiccuping, as Undyne finally Dusted.

 

“THIS– THIS ISN’T HAPPENING!”

 

My heart wrenched as he turned to me, tears streaming down his face.

 

“TELL ME THIS ISN’T HAPPENING. _PLEASE_  TELL ME SHE’S COMING BACK. SHE’S MY _BEST FRIEND_  SHE CAN’T JUST– SHE CAn’t just die like this!”

 

I wiped my own tears with my palm. I couldn’t say anything, there wasn’t anything to say. I sat next to him, the best I could do without being able to hug him. Sans was quick to join in and give Papyrus a hug. Cassander sat ons Sans’ other side as we all tried to comfort Papyrus without really knowing how. He was quick to too-tightly hug Sans back and cry into his shoulder. Sans was quietly murmuring to Papyrus, trying to calm him down some.

 

“This isn’t the end, Papyrus,” I added, crying myself. I felt like I would just make things worse, but I continued, “We’re going to make sure the Player Resets, no matter what. This isn’t the end. I promise.”

 

I started to hum Memory, as it always worked to calm me down when i was having bad nights, and eventually Papyrus was ready to move on after a few more minutes. I continued to hum Memory all the while and when we started walking again, Sans had his arm around Papyrus, who was slightly leaning into him as Cassander and I walked behind.

 

~~~

 

When we got to the Lab, Papyrus said he wanted to wait outside and I waited out there with him, still humming. When it became evident that Sans and Cassander were gonna be a while, I sat down next to Papyrus to the left of the door. At some point I’d stopped humming and the silence stretched between us. Papyrus was sitting with his forearms on his knees, slouching forward and gazing into the middle-distance. I wondered what exactly he was thinking about, more than the fact he just watched his best friend get murdered before his very eyes, but didn’t want to force him to speak if he didn’t really want to.

 

“Kathy, have you ever done a Genocide Run?” He asked eventually. There was a quietness to his voice that wasn’t there before, and I didn’t like it, but I also felt guilty. I didn’t want to admit I had, but I simultaneously didn’t want to lie to Papyrus about it.

 

Eventually, my honor won out and I sighed, “Yeah, but, you gotta understand, I never completed it, and it didn’t seem like a real thing like I was _actually_  killing people. I felt bad about it then and I feel even worse about it now.”

 

“If you felt bad about it, then why did you do it?” He didn’t sound mad, just like he wanted to know. Like he didn't understand wanting to complete a game even when you didn't like what you were doing in it.

 

' _God damn, it’s Return to Guilt Trip Island,_ ' an irreverent part of my mind said.

 

I still didn’t look at him and instead focused on my own hands in my own lap and said, “Like I said earlier, it’s a new way to play the game. New interactions, new battles, and, in a way, it fully completes the game. Drives home its lesson about choice... For what it’s worth…” I wasn’t sure if I should continue, but it was too late now, I’d already said something, “Undyne keeps herself together in the Genocide Run. She comes back and gives one _hell_  of a fight.”

 

“Does she?” Papyrus sniffed. “I bet she looks really cool.” He didn’t sound actually sort of excited about the thought, but he was trying.

 

I gave him an incorporeal side-hug. “Yeah, she looked really cool. Made me have to restart more times than I can remember… Look, I don’t know how much this will help, but you _will_  see her again. We’re going to make _sure_  the Player Resets, no matter _what_. I promise.”

 

I glanced to see Papyrus nod, tears in his eye sockets. I gave him an incorporeal hug and said, “I’m sorry, buddy.”

 

A minute or so later of intense silence, Sans and Cassander exited the Lab.

 

“Sorry for the wait,” Cassander said, “it took _forever_  to get Alphys out of the ’bathroom.’”

 

I nodded and remembered how she hides in the elevator to the True Lab.

 

“So, she’s gonna take the switch off of Mettaton?” I asked.

 

“yeah, she has to get him back to the lab, though. he was already on his way to some event or another with the human,” Sans answered.

 

“I guess all that’s left for us to do is wait it out.”

 

“What if it doesn’t work,” Cassander asked. “I mean, it isn’t definite that this is going to stop them. They could still find another way through.”

 

“Good point… to the Judgement Hall, then?”

 

“THE GOLDEN HALL FROM EARLIER?” Papyrus asked. He sounded like he was trying to be okay for the moment. He wasn’t exactly the happy-go-lucky Papyrus from earlier, but he didn’t look like he’d fall apart any second anymore.

 

Sans gave his brother a concerned look before saying, “yeah. from what these two,” he gestured with his thumbs at us, “have said, that’s the last place we’ll be able to stop this ‘player’ if they get past mettaton.”

 

Papyrus stood up from his place against the wall and I followed, seeing we were about to get moving.

 

“THEN TO THIS HALL WE SHALL GO!” Papyrus marched off towards the elevators, no longer blocked by Royal Guards 01 and 02, and we took it to just outside MTT Resort, then we went inside. Seeing as we'd need to go through the Core since the elevator there was down, I had Sans text Alphys to ask where the Human was. She confirmed that they were currently doing the Musical bit with Mettaton.

 

"We'd better get going then," I said after Sans read the text aloud. "We don't have much time to get through the Core before they enter."

  
Sans nodded and we moved forward into the Core.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The Core was filled with the sound of humming and pistons of machines unseen. I couldn't really feel the heat of the place, but I could see the air wavering above the open pits of steam.

  
  
' _That is_ monumentally _unsafe,_ ' I thought as we passed over a glass walkway. I stared down into the shrouded abyss and wondered what it looked like down there, how the Core worked.

 

After only a few minutes of walking, unhindered by mercenaries and puzzles, we reached the end of the Core and took the elevator to New Home. We went through the house without seeing Asgore and stopped in the Judgement Hall.

  
"So this is it, then? Just wait here until they possibly come?" Cassander asked.

  
  
"Well, I mean, we can't really do anything else. Especially not at this point in the game," I replied.

  
  
"So what're we going to do until the Player either gives up or somehow makes it past Mettaton?"

  
  
I shrugged.

  
  
"well, i'm up for a round of 20-q," Sans suggested.

  
  
"Sure." I replied, getting an idea. "What's your favorite type of pun?"

  
  
"SERIOUSLY?!"

  
  
"bone puns. they're pretty–"

  
  
"YOU'D BETTER _NOT_!"

  
  
"–humerus."

  
  
Papyrus screeched, throwing a mighty glare at both Sans and me. Somehow, I wasn't very intimidated. It looked like this would help lighten the mood.

  
  
"WHY DO _YOU_ LIKE PUNS SO MUCH?" Papyrus asked me.

  
  
I shrugged. "I guess I just like any kind of word-play. Also peoples' reactions. The reactions are the best."

  
  
"okay, why do you know so much about the 'genocide' run? you seem pretty knowledgeable."

  
  
Well that was completely out of the blue, also a downer to the newly upped mood. I realized why Sans suggested twenty questions and slapped my hand to my chest in mock insult.

 

‘Have to keep the mood up now, play it off like it’s no big deal.’

  
"Was this whole thing a setup just to ask me that?" I accused in an obviously non-serious tone.

  
  
Sans shrugged, as relaxed as ever, "maybe." Yet I could tell it, in fact, was a set up.

  
  
" _Well_ then, Mr. Nosey. I've already told Papyrus this, but, uh, I may have sort of _done_ the Genocide Run?"

  
  
Wow, I was suddenly nervous. Kinda forgot I was talking to the Judge of Undertale who could decide I wasn’t really someone he’d want to risk having around.

  
  
'Welp, let's see how this blows over,' I thought.

  
  
Sans only shrugged and said, "ok." I spluttered.

 

  
"That's it? 'Okay?'" I sat back, shocked.

  
  
"what, you want me to be mad at you over what _was_ just a video game?"

  
  
"Well– I– I– _yeah_? I thought you would be? Yeah?" I stared at him, having my worst fears about being honest about the game dashed in an instant.

  
  
"well, i'm not," he shrugged. "you didn't think it was real. hell, as far as we know right now, it isn't."

  
  
I puzzled over Sans' lack of anger for a moment as Cassander said, "For the record, I've never done a Genocide Run."

  
  
"WHAT KINDS OF RUNS _HAVE_ YOU DONE, CASSANDER?"

  
  
"Just a neutral and, like, half a pacifist."

  
  
"AND YOU, KATHIE?"

  
  
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Uh.. multiple Neutral runs and two Pacifist runs. I think I was in the middle of a third before all this..." I trailed off as the world started to glitch and stutter, distortions of colors and shapes appearing randomly through the Hall.

  
  
"what's happening?" Sans sounded noticeably more on guard as we all stood up, on guard for some sort of attack or Happening.

  
  
"I guess this is what happens when the Player Resets." I flitted my gaze around the hall. Everything was rapidly glitching out of control and I was sort of, maybe, a tad terrified.

  
  
"Hey, Kathie?" Cassander turned to me, sounding very worried themself. "What if we don't remember anything?"

  
  
' _Oh crap,_ ' I thought, ' _they have a point._ '

  
  
"Well then," I replied, still looking around as I saw whole chunks of scenery change. "We start over again. We figure it out and go from there."

  
  
The floor to my right was part of the river that ran through the Underground. Several spots on the nearest pillar was wood from the trees in Snowdin, and the next one was entirely a part of the Left Elevator. I felt part of the ground under my right foot disappear, and spun to see it replace with magma. We all huddled closer, previously glitched areas turning black like oil.

  
  
"See ya guys next Run," I said as everything snapped black. I had a brief view of the nothingness of the Void before everything restarted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like I said, I'm back! Uh... I have a sort of backlog of stuff I've written and need to edit, but once I've gotten through that, expect my writing style to change. It's grown a lot since I first started writing this. I'll give you guys a heads up when that happens.
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments! I'm sorry I kinda dropped this for a while, but I /do/ plan on finishing it! (And the rest in the series ;) ) so, like, there /will/ be more, but only at like 4:30 am when I'm struck with a sudden inspiration to write...
> 
> EDIT: Wow it took me a while to notice this chapter didn't have a different title. Whoops.
> 
> Thanks for hanging in there guys!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey this is my first fanfic I'm posting on here hope you guys like it! :D I think this is a really interesting direction with this type of fic, or at least a (hopefully) interesting spin on it! Don't forget to like and comment! :D
> 
> ALSO Thanks to one of my good friends for letting me use them as a character (Name changed, ofc)
> 
> ALSO ALSO Im hoping to update on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, but we'll see where I go when I've run out of my pre-written stuff. I'll let you guys know, whatever it is!


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